Stunning start as women’s golf returns to Olympics
While compatriot Justin Rose was on his way to Olympic Gold on Sunday, Britain’s next hopeful of an Olympic golf medal was flying to Brazil. A few days on and Great Britain’s Charley Hull is causing quite a stir in Rio. At the halfway stage of the Women’s Olympic Golf Event (17-20 August), the 20-year old talent from Kettering, England is in a share of third place with Brooke Henderson (Canada).
Hull opened with rounds of 68-66 to get to 8-under par on the newly-opened Olympic Golf Course. And that is tantalisingly close to the leader Inbee Park. The seven-time Major champion from South Korea is two ahead of Hull after two cracking rounds of 66 got her to 10-under par and saw her take the lead in the 60-strong field. America’s Stacy Lewis is in second place on 133.
Just married Stacy lies second
Ten-under par after two rounds is pretty special in the Olympics, especially when you consider that it was 112 years ago that golf was last played in the Games. Not that you can compare golf in 1904 with now. They played matchplay in those days, not strokeplay as now. Indeed, it is also amazing to realise that there was even a ladies event back then. The very upper class ladies that played golf in the early 1900’s wore quite different clothing in that period, of course. One wonders how on earth they managed to swing the club wearing such restrictive attire, let alone play to a standard high enough to compete in the Olympic Games! They experienced nothing of the freedom that today’s female golfers enjoy in their very sporty, and very short, shorts! We’ll talk more about the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris and the American gold medal winner Margaret Abbott later. Let’s get back to Rio 2016 and Inbee Park’s amazing 36-hole tally of 10-under par.
Interestingly, Marcus Fraser from Australia also led the Men’s Olympic Golf Event (11-14 August) with a score of 10-under par after 36 holes. It was from a share of fourth position that Britain’s Justin Rose stormed-up the leaderboard in round three, carding two eagles on the way, to tee-off in the final round leading by one. He eventually lifted the gold medal with a score of 16-under par, two shots clear of Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, on a thrilling Sunday of golf in front of 12,000 enthusiastic fans.
Rose shares Olympic knowledge with Team GB
Can Charley Hull perform the same miracle in the women’s event in Rio? Apparently she and her caddie have received a little extra help, courtesy of Justin Rose. The course yardage books and notes of the Olympic Golf Champion’s caddie Mark Fulcher have been passed on to Team GB’s golf manager, the former European Tour winner from Kent, Jamie Spence to share with other Brits competing in Rio. Now that’s what you call, pooling resources. Take a note of Rose’s choice of club on the fourth where he had a hole-in-one on the first day. He had wanted to hit an 8-iron to the 189-yard, par-three but his caddie persuaded him to take a 7-iron. The rest is history.
Justin Rose’s notes could be worth their weight in gold. Yes, that caddie book with the golden Olympic tips could make all the difference to Charley Hull this week. And not only to Miss Hull. Britain’s Catriona Matthew is looking in good shape too. The 46-year old Scot shot an impressive 66 in round two which included six birdies and a solitary bogey to get to 5-under and a share of 13th place. It’s awesome to think that Britain could be on-course for an Olympic double – but first let’s focus on round three today.
By the way, did you know?
The par-71, 6522 meter Gil Hanse designed course, which was specially built for this year’s Summer Olympics, lies on the coast in the Barra da Tijuca in the south west of Rio, just 9 kilometres from the Olympic Village. It was created by the American golf course architect in the beautiful Marapendi Natural Reserve. Just as in the Men’s Olympic Golf Event last week, the girls are playing 72-holes strokeplay over four consecutive days. However, as the women’s tournament started on Wednesday, 17th August, the final day of play is on Saturday, 20th August, and not on a Sunday as is usual in Tour events. The course will play 5944 metres long for the women compared with 6522 metres in the men’s event.
Brazil’s unusual wildlife may cause some extra hazards
Brazil’s Olympic beauty is showcasing more than just birdies and eagles during the Games. It’s a natural habitat for some surprising creatures such as the ‘Capybara’, an enormous type of rodent that weighs-in at a whopping 35-60 kilos, as well as a few ‘Caimans’ – a small type of alligator. Let’s hope the girls aren’t squeamish!
Wendy Hoad
PICTURED (centre): One of Britain’s Olympic medal hopefuls, Charley Hull.